


Just So Story

by Elvichar



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-02-07
Updated: 2012-02-07
Packaged: 2017-10-30 18:35:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/334827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elvichar/pseuds/Elvichar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He doesn't just do what he's told.</p><p>Coda to The Hounds of Baskerville.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Give and Take

“I don't just do what your b... what your brother tells me,” he had told Sherlock, biting down the 'bloody' and trying not to give too much away.

Even now Sherlock missed things that were right in front of his eyes. Although as he hadn't even registered Greg's name until John pointed it out, it was hardly surprising some more salient information had also escaped his notice.

Mycroft was another of Sherlock's blindspots and Sherlock didn't 'see' Mycroft if he could help it.

As Mycroft didn't really go in for sun-bathing, excusing himself by pointing out his far too fair and sensitive skin, that was another potentially telling clue that would have been absent anyway.

And of course Mycroft was far too busy and important to get away again so soon after he had already been away.

Christmas had been tough. Sherlock had spotted that Lestrade's soon-to-be-ex wife was having it off with a PE teacher but what he had failed to notice was Lestrade didn't really care. If it hadn't been for the subsequent events of that night he would have been spending Christmas day far away from her. The Dorset retreat was to be with some one else entirely. 

Sherlock always seemed to guess the interpersonal aspects of his deductions. Most of the time he managed to get away with it, but just sometimes his errors were glaring.

He also didn't seem to realise just how hot these Dorset beaches could get at this time of year. Like his brother he didn't go in much for sunbathing.

Lestrade did not have far to come after Mycroft's return to the capital. He had stayed behind to clean up and make sure the place was secure until their next visit. It was just a short drive into Devon and the moors.

It had been a slow seduction. Mycroft was a hard man to get to know, but it had been worth it. 

Greg sometimes wondered if he should occasionally say no when Mycroft asked him to do something – it was true he usually did what Mycroft told him, but he didn't 'just' do that. 

And Mycroft almost always reciprocated.

It was a mutually beneficial arrangement, though now Mycroft owed him one. More than one. 

He would exact his price just as soon as he got back to London and Mycroft. They had a big bed, they could both do just what the other wanted for as long as they wanted. 

Greg was going to make sure of that. Nothing wrong with a bit of give and take.


	2. Something Changed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How they came to this.
> 
> In ACD canon Lestrade and Mycroft certainly know each other as they both appear in The Bruce-Partington Plans, and when Mycroft first arrives at his brother's house Lestrade is right behind ("hot on his heels"). They haven't [yet] met onscreen in the TV series.

Sherlock Holmes was under the impression Inspector Lestrade had known him for only five years, and while technically that was true, it was not entirely accurate.

Sherlock had first come to Lestrade's attention years ago when the nascent consulting detective was only 17. He had just left university after only two years, having started a lot earlier than most. From what little Lestrade could gather at the time Sherlock had spent the summer with a friend, one of the first he had ever had.

Something about the events of that summer had caused Sherlock to drop his studies. By the October the wunderkind was offering his services to the police force.

Lestrade was not involved in the case, but he was aware of the circumstances surrounding it, and of the gangly baby-faced lad who seemed determined to get involved. The police had not been in the least interested in what Sherlock Holmes had to say – not until the boy's older brother (himself a bit of a wunderkind) had involved himself in the affair.

Mycroft, only 24 himself, was incredibly persuasive and had already started making a mark in his particular line of work.

Lestrade had been 28 at the time and until then had thought of himself as something of a prodigy. He had just started in the plain clothes division. Through tenacity and application he had managed to scale the ranks and was pretty chuffed at himself. All through school he had been told he would never amount to much, and he had almost believed it. Only sheer luck had saved him from pursuing a life of crime. He was involved in a gang aged 15 and by 17 had already spent a year in a borstal.

His youthful crimes, fortunately, did not prevent him joining the force. In fact they welcomed him – his experience of the other side of the law held him in good stead and got him on to a pilot scheme to reform “young lads gone bad”.

It was a relief to escape from that, it had never really been his intention to get into a life of crime – he'd just had a bad influence in the form of Freddy “Fingers” Patterson, the gang leader and Lestrade's first serious crush. Freddy's nickname had a little to do with his penchant for shoplifting, but there were certainly other unspoken reasons for the moniker.

After Freddy got stabbed, there didn't seem much point in carrying on with that life.

Mycroft Holmes had spent most of his formative years solving Byzantine puzzles in the company of only himself and copious toasted teacakes (heavy on the butter). As a result his massive intellect was reflected in his physicality.

Mycroft had, at that point, only managed to obtain a fairly junior position, but had already developed the knack of persuading those ostensibly in power that it would be a very good idea indeed if they did as he advised.

Lestrade had taken to the lad. Although everyone else treated Mycroft as a mature and worldly authority figure, Lestrade saw through the self-constructed façade.

Without Mycroft's influence the police never would have listened to Sherlock.

Lestrade had been aware of both brothers ever since, had even talked to Mycroft, but wasn't in any position to be much use to either of them until many years later.

By the time Lestrade was 38 he had risen in the ranks, but for some reason DI was still an elusive dream.

For a very brief , time he had been married to a woman called Susan, but that had fallen apart - which had, in the end, been a relief. Since then he'd been very lonely indeed. He still saw her and they had a strange on again-off again relationship, but it was anything but fulfilling for either of them.

Despite its lack of attention to him he had resigned himself to being married to the job. When he wasn't working he would spend solitary nights realising that his job was a bit of an abusive spouse. And really, what good was a marriage where the object of your affection couldn't comfort you when you'd had a tricky day at work because it was your tricky day at work?

==

Mycroft had been paying attention to the man's career for quite some time. He wasn't sure why but he had inkling that this police man, more than any of the others working at Scotland Yard, might be useful in the future.

Sherlock had not worked with the police after that one, disastrous, time. It had been too soon after the Trevor affair and the excitement of the case and subsequent crash when nothing was solved had compounded his problems. Mummy had arranged for him to go abroad for a while. A short sojourn had turned into almost a decade and Sherlock seemed content to fritter his life away in idleness and pleasure, never staying more than a few months in any one country.

Unfortunately it looked as though Sherlock had now disappeared. He had slipped away from the surveillance team and now nobody had heard from him for several few weeks. Mummy, and Mycroft, were starting to be concerned.

Police intervention was inevitable, but it would be better by far to recruit someone whose established career might not be damaged by any scandal, a lower ranking officer with the potential to benefit from the arrangement would be ideal.

Such a man was Lestrade.

Mycroft studied the file. He paid particularly attention to the photographs and video footage. Yes, working closely with Lestrade might be very rewarding indeed.


End file.
